Paint pigment

Paint pigments are used to produce, singly or in combination, the appearance of commercial and fine art paints, and related coatings such as pastel and colored pencil. Whites and blacks may be used alone, or to adjust the color saturation of mixtures.

Pigments combine with the paint base to produce effects such as reflectivity; this is notable in the brightness or darkness of whites and blacks.

Whites

Among the most common, although not the brightest, white, is calcium carbonate in the form of precipitated chalk. Titanium oxide and zinc oxide are much more highly reflective.